Hovercraft
 

I think there might be a follow up story on the "hovercraft" up in Darwin.

I can already imagine the discussions at CASA, definition of ‘aeroplane’ etc...

By CAsA definition - it is not an "aircraft" but that alone will not stop CAsA having the discussions.

There used to be an in ground effect hovercraft out Cairns and I think it was only GRMPA that had anything to say.

Was that before say something like flight in controlled airspace requiring a transponder?

Or some other silly technicality they might try ping him on!

Can not be having fun guys!

The wing in ground effect craft in Cairns had both marine and aviation registration. Had a dispo for nil transponder. Test pilot was previously aero club instructor. After venture folded, he became a pilot with Jetstar - really nice guy.

Bendy,
Reminds me of many years ago in UK, after much discussion various "Authorities" agreed that cross Channel hovercraft Masters would have to have an ocen going Master's Certificate AND an ALTP with current IR.
It didn't take long to discover that there was no such animal in captivity.
Don'tcha just love "Xspert committees". X as in the unknown quantity, and spert as a drip under pressure, and a committee as a mechanism to make certain nobody is responsible for the outcome, if, indeed there is any outcome, never a high priority among the "Princes of Process".
Tootle pip!!

If GI is still up there with CAsA best it have PC-12 or better performance and redundancies prior to any flight including the water landing checklist updates.

Not sure the spelling of his name (GI) - but PC-12 is enough to identify the guy.

I'm not a pilot, but when the Darwin chap (as portrayed in the ABC newscast) started talking wings, wing spars and then elevators I think to myself "I thought they were talking hovercraft?" PS. I do have a measly 5 minutes in a (genuine) hovercraft.

In the 1970s I had a mate who ran a mechanics business on the Hume Highway in Western Sydney. He was given a hovercraft as a debt payment back when they were still experimental.

He went to DCA, Marine and DMR to find who registered such things and no one wanted to accept responsibility. So being resourceful he "drove" the craft along the highway only to be booked for driving an unregistered vehicle. Responsibility proved??

The local cops spent the next weeks trying to get the ticket back.I bet there were a few hard words in Highway Patrol headquarters over that one.
Wunwing

The CNS WIGE outfit that folded, were they trying to reinvent the wheel...with some Govt money ??
They should have just paid a visit to Russia. Them peskie ruskies have had that sorted for decades.
Could probably have got the Caspian Sea Monster at a discount, but probably too big for the PTD run.

They are not classed as "aircraft" in Australia either - but that does not exclude them from rules that use the word "flight" I expect.

You have a long memory Sunnie! That was a hovercraft operated in the days of Skase, who died in 2001. I think the hovercraft commuter operated briefly between Cairns airport and Port Douglass in the late 1980s?

I remember the WIGE (Wing in Ground Effect) "aircraft" undergoing trials in Cairns, thought it was more recent but looks like it was around 2003 or slightly later:

https://www.pprune.org/tech-log/5241...ht=WIGE+Cairns

Paul Phelan article: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/wing-in-ground-effect-craft-enters-production-160873/

Cairns WIGE: